Issue Date: December 10, 1969

Congo:
Border Closed As Tensions Increase

The Congo River border was closed November 24 as relations between the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) took a turn for the worse. In Brazzaville, Army Commander in Chief Joachim Yhombi announced that the army had been put on alert. Kinshasa President Joseph Mobutu banned all flights of foreign aircraft over Congolese territory and warned that violators might be shot down.

The action followed a November 23 statement by Mobutu that his troops could occupy Brazzaville within two hours if he ordered it. Mobutu was replying to November 13 charges by Brazzaville President Marien Ngouabi that Kinshasa authorities had supported an unsuccessful attempt November 7 to overthrow the Ngouabi regime and assassinate Ngouabi [See 1969 Congo (Kinshasa): News in Brief]. Mobutu denied the charges and said he was "fed up" with "accusations of plots and other things made against my regime by the government of the Congo (Brazzaville).... If we wanted to it would take us only two hours to silence our attackers," Mobutu declared.

The Brazzaville news agency published an article November 24 likening Mobutu to Hitler and declaring that "Brazzaville, will never be captured for a moment. The London Times reported November 24 that provisions were being made to ferry Brazzaville citizens in Kinshasa back to their homes.

(In Brazzaville, four persons were condemned to death November 13 for their part in the November 7 plot: Bernard Kolela, named as instigator, Desire Milongo, Joseph Bakama and Eugene Matimba. Ten persons were sentenced to death in absentia and 15 others were given terms ranging from two to 20 years in prison.)